The present invention relates generally to computer networks and, more particularly, to private computer networks.
An intranet is a private computer network contained within an enterprise and conventionally includes one or more intranet servers in communication with multiple user computers. An intranet may be comprised of interlinked local area networks and may also use leased-lines in a wide-area network. An intranet may or may not include connections to the outside Internet. Intranets conventionally utilize various Internet protocols and, in general, often look like private versions of the Internet. An intranet user conventionally accesses an intranet server via a web browser running locally on his/her computer. An exemplary web browser is Netscape Navigator(copyright) (Netscape Communications Corporation, Mountain View, Calif.).
Information, applications and other resources (collectively referred to herein as xe2x80x9ccontentxe2x80x9d) are conventionally delivered from an intranet server to a web browser on a user""s computer in the form of hypertext documents or xe2x80x9cweb pages.xe2x80x9d As is known to those skilled in this art, a web page is conventionally formatted via a standard page description language such as HyperText Markup Language (HTML), and typically displays text and graphics, and can play sound, animation, and video data. HTML provides basic document formatting and allows a web page developer to specify hypertext links (typically manifested as highlighted text) to other servers and files. When a user selects a particular hypertext link, a web browser reads and interprets the address, called a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) associated with the link, connects the web browser with the web server at that address, and makes an HTTP request for the web page identified in the link. The web server then sends the requested web page to the client in HTML format which the browser interprets and displays to the user.
Intranets are conventionally used to share content among the employees of an enterprise. When intranets first emerged, content tended to be focused towards a particular set of users. However, as intranets have become more integral with the day-to-day operations of an enterprise, intranet content has become available for many different sets of users. Unfortunately, the task of organizing, distributing and updating large amounts of intranet content can be difficult. Furthermore it can be difficult for users to keep track of and locate content relevant to their jobs.
FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate exemplary content-containing web pages (referred to hereinafter as xe2x80x9ccontent pagesxe2x80x9d) displayed via a web browser in communication with an intranet server. In FIG. 1, the displayed content on the content page 10 includes a list 12 of available xe2x80x9cAdministrative Documentsxe2x80x9d. In FIG. 2, a user has selected item 12e from the content page list 12 of FIG. 1, and a list of xe2x80x9c1998 Function Reportsxe2x80x9d 14 has been displayed within a second content page 16, as a result.
Users of an intranet are typically interested only in a subset of the total content available through is an intranet. As a result, intranet users often create xe2x80x9cbookmarksxe2x80x9d or shortcuts to particular content. For example, a user of the intranet content pages illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 may only have an interest in the unit of content entitled xe2x80x9c1998 Guidelines for Client Managersxe2x80x9d (FIG. 2). Rather than accessing the content by displaying the content pages 10, 16 of FIGS. 1 and 2, a user can bookmark and store the URL for this unit content (xe2x80x9c1998 Guidelines for Client Managersxe2x80x9d) within his or her web browser. The URL for the unit of content entitled xe2x80x9c1998 Guidelines for Client Managersxe2x80x9d is: (http://intranet/admin/manage_com/1998_function_reports/1998_guidelines_client_mgrs.pdf).
Bookmarks are created within the web browser of a user""s computer and are typically stored locally on the user""s computer. Unfortunately, the use of bookmarks can be disadvantageous for several reasons. Locally stored bookmarks may become inoperative if content referenced by a bookmark is relocated to another URL. Furthermore, a user may not have access to his or her locally stored bookmarks if he or she uses a different computer or device to access the intranet.
Often, management of an enterprise wants to direct intranet users to specific content. Unfortunately, it may be difficult for an intranet administrator to force users to update their locally stored bookmarks to reflect changes in the location of content or to reflect new content. As a result, intranet administrators often deploy content pages of available URLs to help users find relevant content. In effect, these content pages act as index pages for the content of an intranet. Unfortunately, for intranets containing large amounts of content, a user may have to search through large numbers of URLs to locate specific content. For example, a Java(copyright) programmer seeking content related to his/her programming job may have to initially access an index content page, then an engineering content page, then a programming content page, and then a Java content page to locate the particular content. For many enterprises, the amount of available content may make the task of locating specific content difficult.
Intranet usage can increase computer network traffic, especially in enterprises where many users are accessing the same content from intranet servers. Such increased traffic may also cause xe2x80x9cburstsxe2x80x9d of network traffic, such as when a number of users log into an intranet site in the morning, which may require network resources to be able to handle these bursts which may be significantly more traffic than the steady state traffic level of the network. Increased network traffic may hamper the availability of content. In addition, some requested content may require some type of transformation in order to be viewable by various users"" computers. Unfortunately, content transformation may increase processing demands on the server which can degrade server performance, especially during times of peak demand.
In view of the above discussion, it is an object of the present invention to provide intranet users with the ability to quickly and easily locate and access content.
It is another object of the present invention to allow intranet users to create and maintain customized content page access to content that is available from any computer connected to an intranet.
It is another object of the present invention to allow intranet administrators to direct specific content to intranet users regardless of where a user""s point of access to the intranet is located.
It is another object of the present invention to facilitate the efficient use of intranet system resources and to facilitate the reduction of computer network traffic caused by intranet access and content transformation.
These and other objects of the present invention are provided by systems, methods and computer program products for assigning, generating and delivering content to users of an intranet. Intranet users are defined and assigned to various defined user groups. Units of content available to users of an intranet are also defined and assigned to various defined content groups. The term xe2x80x9cunit of contentxe2x80x9d refers to any type of information including, but not limited to, a hypertext link (i.e., web link) to information contained elsewhere; an activation device, such as a button on a web page displayed to a user that launches a new browser window to display information; and information embedded within a web page displayed to a user. The defined content groups are then associated with the defined user groups such that each of the defined user groups has at least one of the defined units of content associated therewith. A content page creation profile is provided for each defined user and is configured to control how content is displayed within a user""s customized content page.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a content page is generated for a user when the user logs in to an intranet. Upon identifying the user, user groups to which the user is assigned are then identified. Content groups associated with the identified user groups are then identified. Through the identified relationships of user groups and content groups, the units of content assigned to the user can be determined and a content page containing the assigned units of content is created. Preferably, the units of content displayed on a user""s content page are arranged according to a content page creation profile assigned to the user. The created content page is then delivered to the user for display via a web browser on the user""s device.
The present invention is advantageous because, upon logging in to an intranet, a user is provided with a customized content page that provides access to content specifically relevant to the user. Accordingly, a user does not have to search through pages of often irrelevant content listings to locate content relevant to his or her job. A user can receive his or her content on any device in communication with an intranet implementing the present invention. An intranet administrator can also direct specific content to intranet users regardless of where a user""s point of access to the intranet is located. In addition, users can create and maintain customized content pages from any device connected to the intranet.
According to another aspect of the present invention, content may be delivered to a user""s computer during off-peak hours prior to the generation of user requests for the content. Units of content assigned to a content group may be prefetched from an intranet, or from the Internet, and exported into a content package. Content packages may be optionally compressed. A determination may be made whether a user device already contains the present version of the content package and, if not, the content package can be transmitted to the user device. Preferably, content delivery according to this aspect of the present invention is performed during off-peak hours when network traffic is low. Because a given content group may be shared by a large number of users, the retrieval and delivery of this content group prior to receiving user requests can substantially reduce network traffic and furthermore allow for controlled delivery so as to spread network traffic out over time to reduce traffic bursts.
The present invention also allows content transformations to be performed during off-peak hours, thus conserving processor capacity and reducing user wait time. Preferably, prefetched units of content are transformed from a first format to a second format prior to being exported into a compressed content package. For example, a color image may be transcoded into a gray scale image upon determining that a particular user device is configured to only display gray scale images. Content transformation of prefetched content according to the present invention can reduce processor demand during times of peak demand.